Archbishop Justin Welby is worried advances in marriage equality in the West might harm Christians in Africa.

BY Michael O'Loughlin

April 09 2014 10:19 AM ET

The leader of the worldwide Anglican Communion, Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, says that Church of England backing marriage equality could be "catastrophic" for Christians in the developing world.

During an interview on the U.K.'s LBC Radio last week, Welby spoke of a visit to a mass grave in Africa where nearly 400 bodies were buried. He said he was told that those buried were Christians, killed because locals had believed that allowing a Christian community would mean "we would all be made to become homosexual."

"That burns itself into your soul," he said. "As does the suffering of gay people in this country," he said, according to the BBC.

Same-sex marriage was made legal in England and Wales last month, but the Church of England will not bless same-sex unions.